Uptown Photo Terms of Use

Scheduling

Please contact Uptown Photo, LLC ("Uptown Photo) via email, text, online chat, or telephone (240) 406-8958 to schedule appointments. When you contact us to book an appointment, we will send you a Client Agreement with our terms and conditions for photo shoots and other services. Generally, we need at least 24 hours notice before your preferred photo shoot time. Usually, the photo shoot will take between 1.5 to 4 hours, depending on the types of photography services you ordered and the size of the home or property. We produce high quality images that take more time to produce than most other local photographers. We make appointments several days in advance, especially from March to October. Please see our cancellation and weather policy in the Client Agreement that we send you, or ask us about it over the phone, email, or online chat.

Payment

Please be prepared a deposit when booking your photo shoot, and the remaining balance for the photo shoot on the day of the photo shoot. You must leave a valid credit card on file for the purposes of paying the balance due on your orders. We will charge this credit card either in person, or remotely on the day of your photo shoot. If additional services were ordered before, during, or after the photo shoot, your balance will increase according to the new orders you have placed. We take credit card payments using Square. Invoices must always be settled prior to receiving the images we produced for you. We will bill the credit card you choose to leave on file prior to sending you the images you ordered. Please note that if you do not pay on the day of the photo shoot, we will not send you any images.

Past Due Accounts

Please have all invoices paid when presented. Net 30 payment is reserved for commercial clients. Real estate clients are expected to pay for images when the invoice is presented. After 30 days, we will add an additional 10% to the invoice for each 30 days of non-payment. Please be aware that our usage dictates that the images are paid in full prior to us giving permission to use the images. This means that you will be in violation of our copyright for posting images for which you have not been paid in full.

The Shoot

The homeowner or someone authorized by the homeowner (the agent) should be present at the shoot to give access to the home and to discuss any special considerations such as what should be included or excluded in shots. Our goal at the shoot is to provide quality photos that include a front exterior, back exterior and all the major rooms such as living room, dining room, family room, kitchen, master bedroom, master bath and bedrooms. Powder rooms, small bathrooms, utility rooms or garages are not a shooting priority unless you give us specific direction to photograph them.

Ready Condition

Please make sure that the home or property is ready for photography at the time of the photo shoot. This, for example, includes (but is not limited to) having the rooms organized and clean, making sure that contractors are not working on properties during the scheduled photography session, and pets are out of the way. We reserve the right to refuse to photograph unsafe properties and charge for our wasted time. If we need to wait for the property to be prepared after we have already arrived, and if we are able to wait (considering other appointments booked by other clients), then we will charge an additional $100 per hour, billed in 15 minute increments. However, we also reserve the right not to wait for the property to be prepared, and still charge for our time. So, please make sure to have the property ready before our photographers arrive on-site.

Uptown Photo, LLC is not a staging service. We shoot properties as-is. Although we may choose to stage a room, we reserve the right not to do so. Small items such as towels from the stove, coffee pots, and other easy to move furnishing may be moved to create a better image. However, Uptown Photo does not move furniture or anything else of value. The home will be shot in the condition it is upon the photographer's arrival. If the client wishes to move objects during the shoot, clean, approve camera framing, or recreate images found in someone else's work, then commercial pricing will be utilized.

Client Agreement

This page summarizes the terms and conditions for the Uptown Photo web site. If there are any conflicts between the terms and conditions on this web site, and the terms and conditions on your Client Agreement, please confirm with our staff.

Image Editing

Basic image editing is included with the price of the photos. Extensive editing to remove scratches from furniture, marks off walls, object removal, and the like will either be billed at $75/hour (billed in 15 minute increments) or outsourced to a professional retouching service. This will cause a delay in receiving images with our normal 24-hour delivery goal. Please note that although our goal is to deliver images within 24 hours, we do not make any promises or claims that you will have the images within 24 hours. Please make sure you follow MLS rules regarding edited images. Uptown Photo takes no responsibility for any violations of MLS policy due to your use of the images we produce. If there is a problem with an image not being MLS-compliant, please let us know immediately, and we will endeavor to correct the issue for you. Uptown Photo, LLC is not responsible for requested photo edits, unless you request an estimate from us about the cost of making your desired photo edits, and your payment for such photo edits has been received.

Mileage

Uptown Photo, LLC offers free mileage for properties within 35 miles each way from our Rockville, MD office address. Additional mileage (greater than 70 miles round-trip) is billed an extra $50.00/hr, unless explicitly waived by a member of our team in writing.

Parking

If our photographer(s) have to pay for parking upon arrival due to a lack of free parking space at the photo shoot location, the Client agrees to pay for all parking expenses.

Pets and People

Please make sure pets are contained during the shoot. Pets and people are never included in real estate photos and need to be out of the way during the shoot. Architectural photography photo shoots may include pets and people, but they are billed differently from real estate photography jobs as architectural photo shoots are commercial jobs.

Cancellation and Weather Policy

If cancellation or rescheduling is necessary, please give us at least 24-hours notice. There will be a minimum cancellation charge of $100 if shoots are not canceled with in 24 hours, or the deposit for the job will be forfeited, whichever amount is greater. If cancellation or rescheduling occurs upon our arrival to the property, an additional $50 will be assessed on top of the $100 cancellation fee, or the forfeited deposit. In the event of poor weather conditions, Uptown Photo will arrange another time to photograph at no penalty to the client. Weather related rescheduling is not applicable if we have already left our office to photograph the property. If not contacted, we will assume that the scheduled session time is active.

Photo Delivery

Once the photos are shot they will be edited and optimized for quality and delivered to you via Google Drive within 24 hours (for real estate jobs). You will receive an e-mail with a link and instructions on downloading your photos. Please make sure we have your email address, so we can send you a link to download the photos. Uptown Photo does not deliver photography on CD, DVD, or flash drive.

Photo Rights and Usage

All photos produced for the client may be used by that client for all marketing associated with the current sale of the property in accordance with local MLS rules. Please note that the photos will be copyrighted by the photographer. A license granted only to the agent and their MLS and NOT to any other party. Any usage of the photos by a third party, including but not limited to architects, builders, stagers, designers, sellers or buyers is prohibited unless approved in writing by Uptown Photo. Uptown Photo, LLC owns all images produced. You may not give copies of the images to homeowners, other agents, or use on your website (except for marketing that single property) unless approved by Uptown Photo, LLC.

Commercial Photography

Please contact us for information about scheduling a commercial photography photo shoot.